Elena Rising

Elena’s family of tobacco growers escape from Castro’s Cuba to Puerto Rico only to have her career dream to become a dancer turn to terror as she unwittingly dances her way into the sleazy grip of Hector Perez’s sordid underworld of pornography. It will take the mystical power of her love for music to save her. .

Raised in Southern California, Depression-born Pat Hicks grew up poor and fatherless, determined to succeed against all odds-and he did. Pat founded the world-renown Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. Recognized as the leader of contemporary music education, with over 50,000 graduates to date, Pat's school was awarded a citation by the Mayor of Los Angeles for its cultural contributions to the Hollywood community. Now Pat has found yet one more talent. Drawing from his variegated life, Pat is the author of Trading Fours, his memoir of the golden age of Musicians Institute, Cheating Death, stories of his miraculous escapes from certain death, and Elena Rising, a factional story of a Cuban girl's rise to prominence. The soon-to-be-completed Conversation with a Pelican is an entrepreneur's story, again based on Pat's life.